Originally appeared on E! Online
Waiting for an answer on those Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck rumors?
While there's been a lot of speculation about the state of their marriage, neither the Grammy nominee nor the Oscar winner have publicly commented on where they stand. But just a few months ago, fans got a look at one area Affleck and Lopez don't see eye to eye.
In Lopez's documentary "The Greatest Love Story Never Told"— released at the end of February — the actor recalled how he wasn't comfortable with all the attention around their relationship when they first dated in the early aughts.
"When Jen and I broke up before," Affleck said while looking back at the end of their engagement in 2003, "the catalyst for that was this massive amount of scrutiny around our private life."
However, he suggested the couple didn't necessarily share the same viewpoints when it came to having a romance in the public eye.
"I had a very firm sense of boundaries initially around the press while Jen I don't think objected to it in the way I did," the "Argo" star continued. "I very much did object to it."
Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck's Georgia Wedding
So when they got back together in 2021, Affleck expressed how he wanted to keep things more private. However, he realized this was easier said than done.
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"Getting back together, I said, 'Listen, one of the things I don't want is a relationship on social media,'" "The Town" alum continued. "And then I sort of realized it's not a fair thing to ask. It's sort of like you're gonna marry a boat captain and you go, 'Well, I don't like the water.' We're just two people with kind of different approaches trying to learn to compromise."
And though Affleck could relate to pulling from real-life experiences for art, he admitted it wasn't easy for him to appear in Lopez's documentary and for her to draw inspiration from their life together for her 2024 album "This Is Me... Now" — a follow-up to her 2002 release "This Is Me…Then" — and its corresponding film "This Is Me... Now: A Love Story."
"I know as a writer and director, I certainly do the same things," he later added. "But things that are private, I had always felt, are sacred and special because in part they're private. So, this was something of an adjustment for me."
Affleck, 51, and Lopez, 54, tied the knot in 2022 — first in a Las Vegas wedding and then in a luxurious ceremony in Georgia. But lately, fans have been wondering what's going on with Bennifer — especially since they hadn't been photographed together in about a month and a half, the singer liked an Instagram post about relationship red flags and multiple outlets reported they're living apart.
Still, the director — who shares kids Violet 18, Seraphina, 15, and Samuel, 12, with ex-wife Jennifer Garner — and the "Hustlers" star — who co-parents 16-year-old twins Max and Emme with ex-husband Marc Anthony — have been spotted with their wedding rings. And on May 19, they were pictured together smiling in a car.
E! News has reached out to Ben and Jennifer's reps for comment but has yet to hear back.
